Tag: diplomacy

ASIA AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev should win another seven year term on Wednesday, particularly given that his opposition is boycotting the election. Aliyev, who is amazingly only 56 even though it seems like he's been in power in Azerbaijan since the late Middle Ages (it's been 15 years) is running against seven other candidates … Continue reading World update: April 9 2018

BELGIUM This is still sort of breaking so it goes first: Belgian soldiers have shot a man suspected of being a would-be suicide bomber at Brussels Central Station, officials say. He was shot after reportedly setting off a small explosion and no-one else is believed to have been injured. Prosecutors later said the man had … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: June 19-20 2017

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Hackers have apparently compromised the personal email account for Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE Ambassador to the US, and leaked its contents to several media outlets including The Intercept and Huffington Post. There's some serious stuff in this leak. Otaiba, for those who don't know, is one of the most active ambassadors in … Continue reading Middle East update: June 3-4 2017

WANNA CRY? The weekend's big news was the huge WannaCry cyber attack that hit an estimated 300,000 computers across 150 companies, locking them up and demanding ransom payments for releasing them. Major corporations and government offices--in particular Britain's National Health Service--were crippled for much of the weekend. The outbreak appears to have been brought under control … Continue reading Europe/Americas update: May 12-15 2017

COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS The Trump administration's commitment to human rights is so vast, so resolute, that its UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, strong-armed the UN Security Council into holding a special session on the topic just a couple of weeks ago. How is America championing human rights today? Let's check: When President Trump called President Rodrigo Duterte … Continue reading Conflict update: April 29-30 2017

Iraq Iraqi commanders are saying that their forces have seized control of Mosul University from ISIS, a major step toward the full liberation of eastern Mosul. ISIS had been using the university as a base of operations, so now that's denied to them, and the campus sits in a tactically significant position overlooking a big … Continue reading Conflict update: January 14 2017

As they said they would, this morning the Iranians released all ten of those detained US sailors and their boats. It seems pretty apparent (because the US isn't challenging it) that both boats did somehow slip into Iranian territorial waters before they were picked up by the Revolutionary Guard Navy, although the initial story that … Continue reading Hopes for war once again dashed by peace, thanks Obama